Controls exist all over the house: light switches, garage door openers, temperature controls, TV remotes, oven dials, faucets and many more. And every single object that can be changed by a human has what computer geeks call a user interface — a point of contact between human and machine. The location of these controls has almost always been near or on the device to be controlled, meaning the human user has to go to the machine in order for this interfacing to occur.

Thanks to the smart phone revolution, however, it’s now possible for controls to be on the person, rather than on the machine. In the past year, a new category of home appliance has emerged — the smart phone–controlled device.

The great thing about smart phone–controlled stuff is that you don’t have to be anywhere near the appliance to control it. You don’t even have to be in the house!

Smart phone–controlled lightbulb. A company called Insteon sells a lightbulb controlled by an Apple iPhone. No, it’s not a lamp that’s controlled, but the bulb itself, which fits into a standard lamp socket.

The Insteon LED Bulb is part of Insteon’s SmartHome line, and it comes with its own controller. You can add an optional SmartLinc controller for connecting to an iPhone. After downloading Insteon’s free app, you can turn the bulb on and off and also dim the light. You can even define presets: “working,” “romantic” and other settings that you determine.

Smart phone-controlled front door lock. The problem with carrying the house key in your pocket is that it might scratch your phone. So why not get rid of the house key altogether?

Schlage makes an electronic front-door lock with a deadbolt that can be locked and unlocked from your phone. The Schlage Nexia lets you control the lock conventionally, too. You can manually lock it, and unlock it with a PIN code.

But the phone adds security and convenience. For example, you can choose to get an alert when someone uses the PIN code to get in. And if you’re not sure the door has been locked, you can check and lock it, even if you’re in another state.

Smart phone–controlled thermostat. The Nest Learning Thermostat does a lot of neat tricks, and the ability to be controlled from a smart phone is just one of them.

The beautiful, futuristic-looking round Nest replaces your old thermostat. But it’s not just an electric box full of wires. It’s a little computer that connects through your home network via Wi-Fi. It downloads its own software updates, for example. So when the company improves the software, your thermostat automatically improves, too.

The best thing the Nest does is learn. Here’s how it works. You just set the temperature as you normally would, either at the device, on the web or on your phone. The thermostat keeps track of the temperature and humidity conditions that exist when you change the temperature, as well as the time of day and other variables.

Over time it learns what you do and when you do it, and starts doing it without you.

The thermostat can even tell if someone is in the room. It maintains upper and lower limits (set by your previous actions) for both when people are in the room and when they’re not.

Marketed predominantly to hotels and companies for their employees' coffee areas, the deluxe TopBrewer looks like a pretty typical kitchen-sink faucet. But instead of tap water, you get a cappuccino, foamed milk and all.

Sure, the spigot also dispenses cold water and cold milk, as well as hot water for tea or steaming vegetables, hot chocolate, carbonated water and nine other drinks. Blah, blah, blah. Did I mention cappuccino?

OK, let’s back up for a second. The cabinet is basically a refrigerator where cold milk and cold water are stored, connected to the faucet. On top is a clear container for fresh whole coffee beans, which are ground before brewing.

You use an iPhone or iPad app to program any drink that uses these ingredients — basically it’s an automated Starbucks in your kitchen with a computer instead of a barista. Then you use the app or the keyboard built into the tabletop to select a drink. Press the double Americano button, or the espresso macchiato button, and out it comes.

All these solutions are great if you have one problem that needs to be solved, but there is still a need to integrate all these components for whole house control, apple style. Sonos is great for music, Control 4 is great for whole house, but still expensive. Time Warner was experimenting with whole house control, but decided to shelve their plans. How much longer do we need to wait for an affordable home control system?!

All of these (with the exception of the coffee maker) would be fantastic additions to vacation homes. I would love to know when a contractor, maid, pest control, come and go. Would love to turn certain indoor and outdoor lights on upon arrival. Saw the thermostat controller at Lowes $240 but I wasn't sure if there were other hidden costs (like the app, service fee by manuf etc)

We just had whole home audio installed with our build. I just turned it on in my master bathroom with my iPhone about five minutes ago. It's great! But yes, it was expensive. It was the main thing my husband wanted so we budgeted it in from the start.

Jeannette, your information is saved on the system server. And your iPhone information is stored in the cloud so when you replace your phone it's not a problem to sync a new phone. It's all pretty seamless.

So now, when your internet service goes down, your house won't heat, your lights won't go on and your coffee maker will spit out lattes continuously until your fridge is empty. But on the positive side, the LEDs in all the devices will continue to glow giving you nightlights in every room to navigate by.

It is hilarious reading the comments from the people that do not like the automation products. I remember reading similar comments from history books about things like automobiles, airplanes, and microwave ovens.

These are some great things and there are more coming. Yes, there will be problems, however, it is just things to fix, not a reason not to have them.

As others have posted, I'm looking to see a really well integrated whole home system that does not cost an arm and a leg. And I'm hoping to see these built into living spaces from the beginning and not as some tack-on afterthought.

Thank you so much for this article, I recommend the Nest and have one myself, we saw a difference of $125 per MONTH in our heat/ac bill! I am going to buy the Instaeon right now and love the Cyber Rain concept. Great article!

We currently have a security system that integrates with all these features through zwave technology which we can control with our smart phones. It is amazing! The company that makes the security systems is called DMP. We can control, lights, locks, thermostats as well as our garage door. It is really convenient.

Just an FYI, I found controller apps for all of these in the Android market, even the ones that say iPhone or Blackberry only. If you have an Android, check it out even if the article says it isn't compatible, it seems like it may be wrong about that. I haven't actually tried to use the apps though.

Great stuff! We have a key pad at our front door and love it. The phone option is even better! It would be nice if the phone manufacturers could step up the development of the batteries though.
Great idea for the light.. need an android version.

There are no hidden costs on the Nest - but do make sure it is compatible with your existing heating/cooling system. Installation was relatively easy, but you might need to patch/paint your wall if the existing thermostat was larger than the Nest, etc. We installed this earlier in the year and am not sure how much we are saving, if anything, since we just moved into this place, but the device is gorgeous and it is great to turn on the air conditioner or heat as we get closer to home. And with no internet, the device still works, you just wouldn't be able to control remotely. Actually, I wonder if it would still work from home even without internet service since our iphone and Nest are on the same wifi network.

As technology advances it makes things appear easier for us all. The price for it may be the destruction of life as we know it, as forests disappear, lakes dry up, the ice caps melt, and one after another species die. We complain if our apps don't do things just the way we think they should, we load ourselves up with electronic gear that sucks power like we suck air. We wonder why people have become obese, and we genetically modify our food to make it grow faster, resist insects, look prettier, last longer on the shelf. Corporations impose their will on farmers, businesses, and innovators to force them to submit to their 'progress' without thought to how their products will affect the populations yet unborn. Pharmaceutical companies drug us to the gills, and force medical innovation and natural healing into the 'witchcraft' realm. Oil companies pollute our oceans, kill the wildlife, destroy forests, poison the soil, and we encourage them to find more oil to fuel our cars, suv's, lawnmowers, an neausum...
By all means, give me an app that can make my life easier. Can it fix the economy, repair the environment, and control populations too?

We have a condo that we rent and use a Mi Casa Verde- Vera2 automation system- hooks up to your wifi router, bought keyless front door lock and thermostat. From Iphone or computer, we control door codes and thermstat temperatue, it has been invaluable in being able to manage our rental condo from a remote location. Bought at gokeyless.com, had lock/thermostat installed by handyman and programmed Vera ourselves. Works like a charm. Have unique code for cleaners and handyman and change codes for renters each time- all remote. Manage condo temperature remotely. Could add lamp, cameras but we haven't yet.

Great list of products, I see you have the Insteon Light Bulb. Philips makes Hue which is similar but you can also change the color of the light all from your smartphone. Found it in this article there's a couple of other cool products listed there too http://wayved.hubpages.com/hub/Smartphone-Controlled-Devices

I received the Nest thermostat as a gift and I love it. It was easy to install and easier yet to use on the iPhone app. It is well worth the money and should only get better with time. I look forward to program updates in the future, like a low temp warning or greater amounts of data to analyse.

I bought (and still have to set-up) a Mi-Casa-Verde.It talks to all these Z-Wave devices and will allow you to turn off/on lights as needed. (No more yelling at the Wife!!! Well, not for that!!!)I will be able to get an alarm from my Smart Phone for Smoke and with cameras check it out!!!It really gives meaning to a SMART Phone.

The most useful way to use these products is with an Integrated Automation System. It is nice to walk into your home, press a button that says "Relax", and have the A/C turn on, shades rise, favorite Pandora Station play, etc. Or maybe you leave on vacation, and get to the airport only to feel the stress of thinking you left some lights on, a TV, or even worse the A/C.....wouldn't it be nice to have a custom button on your phone that says "Vacation Mode" and the entire house shuts down, alarm turns on, and the house begins to use the lights in the exact fashion you did when you were home to make it seem like to the outside world.....you are still home.